Fenny Compton Parish Plan

At a meeting of the Steering Group the achievements of the last 18 months were reflect on. These include:

the volume of lorry traffic has reduced and the feasibility of measures to reduce speeding in the village and improve safety under the railway bridge are being investigated in conjunction with the Parish and County Council.

a new playground for the under 8's has been installed on the sports field and options to improve the provision for older children are being developed.

although the Post Office's opening hours are much reduced, the service is now reliable and being well-used.

more dog bins have been provided.

considerable work has been undertaken in conjunction with the District Council to robustly assess the causes of flooding in the village and a number of projects are being progressed to implement the study's conclusions.

a development to meet the housing needs of people in the parish is in progress on Station Road, less than two years after the Housing Needs Survey - a considerable achievement, as most of these projects take about five years.

The Parish Counci is publishing regular updates on their progress against the Action Plan on this website, and the Steering Group believes that there is little more that they contribute at this stage. They therefore resolved to disband the Steering Group, and pass their remaining funds to the Parish Council, on the understanding that these are ring-fenced for expenditure related to delivery of the Action Plan. Thanks were given to all the members of the Steering Group for their hard work and commitment over the three years they have been together, all the members of the Parish who have supported the development of the Parish Plan, particularly those who helped distribute and collect the survey, and the Parish and District Councils that have adopted the Plan and made considerable progress in implementing many parts of it.

Update:

The Parish Council adopted the Parish Plan in September 2008. Since then we have been working towards delivering the actions that have been agreed by the community.

Although the Parish Council has the lead responsibility for delivering the majority of the actions, we can not deliver them all on our own. We will rely on the support of the community to deliver many of them.

The attached progress summary identifies who on the Parish Council has lead responsibility for each action.

Progress against the actions will be discussed at Parish Council meetings, which are open to the public. We will also publish updates on the website every 3 to 6 months.

Introduction to the Parish Plan:

In March 2006 it was agreed by the Parish Council that a Parish Plan should be prepared as a response to the Government White Paper, Our Countryside - The Future.

The objectives of the Plan were to:

· Provide opportunities for all residents to define the way the community should develop into the future;

· Identity the aspirations, needs and concerns of the community;

· Develop a realistic Action Plan to address those aspirations, needs and concerns.

The Parish Plan acts as a blueprint for the future of the Parish as defined by the community. It is recognised as proof of public consultation, which is fundamental to any application for external grant funding.

A open meeting was organised by the Parish Council in October 2006 to introduce the concept of the Parish Plan to the community and provide an opportunity for volunteers to support the process.

An initial grant was obtained from Defra. Further grants were obtained from Fenny Compton Parish Council and Stratford District Council Community Fund. These grants have funded the survey of parish residents, analysis of the results and presentation of these back to the community. A final grant was obtained from Awards for All which has funded the final production of this document.

A small Steering Group was set up in March 2007 to consult with parishioners and to develop a questionnaire to be sent to all houses in the Parish. The Electoral Register 2006 listed 340 properties in Fenny Compton and 601 registered electors. 258 or 80% of all households completed the questionnaires, ensuring that the conclusions of the survey were representative of the community as a whole.

The responses to the main Questionnaire were analysed by Warwick Network Ltd, including over 350 pages of comments, opinions and suggestions. All the information gained was displayed in the Village Hall in October 2007. All parishioners were invited to attend and give further comments on the results of the survey. More than 150 residents attended on the day, from the youngest to the oldest members of the community. Much discussion took place and many more suggestions were put forward for inclusion in the Parish Plan.

As the Action Plan was developed, regular progress updates were published in the Compton Chronicle, the monthly magazine for Fenny Compton and the surrounding villages. A draft of the Action Plan was displayed in the Village Hall in May 2008. Again, this open meeting was well attended with much discussion on the material presented.

By using all the responses, which represent the wishes of the community, an Action Plan is being drawn up by the Steering Group in consultation with the Parish Council.

The Action Plan will set out:

· The concerns of the community;

· The actions to be taken;

· The partners;

· The priorities and timescales for delivery.

The Parish Plan will fully represent the value placed on village life, its services, facilities and institutions by the community.

Fenny Compton Parish Council has played an important part in the production of the Parish Plan and we hope that the Council will formally adopt the Parish Plan and Action Plan in the coming months.

The Parish Council and others have already put in place several of the actions suggested in the responses to the Questionnaire and placed within the Action Plan.

Further working groups will be established to implement the Action Plan, reporting back to the Parish Council who will keep the Action Plan under regular review.

The Fenny Compton Parish Plan Steering Group are extremely grateful for all the support they have received, from DEFRA, the Parish Council, Stratford District Council, Awards for All and the community of Fenny Compton Parish. Without this support it would not have been possible to discover and record the wishes of the Fenny Compton community and set out an Action Plan for its future.